Wheel suspension for motor vehicles



Dec. 25, 1956 KRAUS ET AL 2,775,467

WHEEL SUSPENSION FOR MOTOR VEHICLES E iled May 24, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1I N VE NTORS L UDMG KRA (/5 AND JUSEF G/VA M86 5/ 49M Ma Al'l'O/F/VEKSDec. 25, 1956 L. KRAUS ETAL 2,775,467

WHEEL SUSPENSION FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Filed May 24, 195.5 2 Sheets-Sheet 2b i/z Li;

Luawzs menus AND .7055; GA/AM ar 20% MM Ice 2,775,467

United St es. I

claims; chase-124 .The present invention relates to a: [wheelsuspension, particularlyfor motor vehicles. I V I r Itf is an object ofthe present invention to. provide "a wheel, suspension which "has thecharacteristics and 'advantages of 'a wheel suspension for oscillating vhalf-axles but eliminates the requirement for such half-axles.

Another object of thepresent invention is to provide awheel suspensionof ,"greatsi'mplicity which,.how ever, takes up the forces. acting onthe, wheels: more fully and properly than many much more complicatedconstructions and as closely as possible to the planes of the wheels andwith very little variation of the' c'as ter' a11gle ;"of the"wheels inresilient movement thereof.

An essential feature. of the invention eonsistsain mounting the when;carries of 'e achlwh'eel b frneansof two thrust-arms which are disposedat different levels and extend substantially in the longitudinaldirection iof'the vehicleu Tliese thrust arms are adaptedjto swingabouttwo axes which converge toward each other with their point ofintersection or at least their approximate point of intersection lyingwithin a direction toward the opposite wheel. The thrust arms arepreferably pivotally mounted on the vehicle body at opposite sides ofthe wheel carrier, that is, as seen from the wheel carrier, so as toextend in opposite directions.

According to another feature of the invention it is possible to providethe virtual fulcrum of the oscillating halfaxles, i. e. the point ofintersection of the oscillating axes of the thrust arms, at a suitabledistance from the respective wheel, for example, outside of the oppositewheel, and to make the virtual length of the half-axles of any desiredlength. Such virtual fulcrum may also be disposed at a point lower thanthe rotary axis of the wheel.

Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbe apparent from the following detailed description of two preferredembodiments of the invention and the accompanying drawings thereof, inwhich Fig. 1 shows a diagrammatic perspective illustration of a wheelsuspension having two thrust arms of equal length which are pivotableabout inclined axes;

Fig. 2 shows a similar illustration of a wheel suspension having twothrust arms of different length;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the wheel suspension shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross section taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 6 and shows thedetails of construction of an embodiment of the invention similar toFigs. 2 and 3;

Fig. 5 is a front view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 6; while Fig. 6is a top view thereof.

Referring to the drawings, the wheel r is mounted on the journal g ofthe wheel carrier b, and the journal g may be disposed, for example, atthe center B of the wheel carrier b. The latter is supported and guidedby the two thrust arms e and which extend substantially in thelongitudinal direction of the vehicle. Thrust arms e and f each form atriangle and are mounted, on the one hand, on the 'wheel carrier b bymeans of universal or ball-and-socket joints C, D, and on the otherhand,'on the vehicle body.

e' pivotal axes or axes of oscillation of the thrust arms v efiand''ffacing t he frame or body of the vehicle are determined by thelines A-E or A'-F, respectively, wherein Aconstitutes the point ofintersectionof the two pivotal axes and forms the virtual fulcrum of animaginary oscillating half-axle q=A-Bo at the vehicle body whichis'determined by the thrustarms. Since the arms e and f in Fig. l are ofequal'length, the point Bo lies at the is mountedby means of aball-and-socket joint .K or the center B intermediate C and D. j t p a aI a In order to safeguard the wheelagainst turning out of the drivingdirection, wheel carifier h isprovidedwitha crank arm k, at the end ofwhich .the supporting arm? like. Supportingjarm l is, in .turn,connected to the, vehicle frame by'means of the joint "L. Thus, when theWheel oscillates ina substantiallyfverticaldirection, the wheel carrierb willbe supported, on the one hand, by

the "triangular arms a and f, for example, by the joint moving to thepoint Q and the joi to itliefp oint .D', and, on the'other handgby theariri l cli, intihe raised position of the wheel assumes, for exa pie,the position ii carries. out a rotary Sincethefjoint' thenmovesfwithin"ah 'ar6 ab'ou the: joint -L t oward the pointl Kfl' itadvisableinacco V with Figs. 2 aiid'3 fto makethe arms e andjofdifferent lengths so,

quently described.

Since at a lower point of intersection A as shown in Fig. 1, the journalg forms an angle (p relative to the rotary axis AB=a of the wheelcarrier, it carries out a conical movement about the extended axis ABwhen the wheel oscillates and thus exerts a a guiding or steering action upon the wheel. The larger the angle (p is between the journal gand the rotary axis AB, the larger will be the deflection. By shorteningthe upper arm 1, however, the fulcrum Bo, about which the wheel carrierb turns when oscillating, will be shifted downwardly, as shown,for'example, in Fig. 2, so that the rotary axis will assume the position(In, while the deflection of the wheel will be reduced in accordancewith the smaller angle p Since the virtual fulcrum A may be placed atany desired point remote from the wheel, the further possibility willresult that the change in alignment may be reduced to any desiredminimum values. Such virtual fulcrum A may, if desired, also be placedat a higher point, without incurring any disadvantages, that is, forexample, at or even above the wheel center, since at a considerablelength of the oscillating axle a lateral moment of force which might beof disadvantage will not occur.

The supporting arm I may, if desired, also be provided and arranged formaintaining the alignment of the wheel, for example, if the arms e and fare made of equal length, so that when the wheel is running under aload, it will be guided as straight as possible and the smalldeflections which cannot be avoided will occur only when the wheel isrunning without a load so that any disturbing forces will be practicallyexcluded.

Because of the longer pendulum arm it is also possible to maintain thelongitudinal displacement of the drive shafts between the axletransmission and driven wheels within small limits. This reduces thewear and facilitates the lubrication, and the universal joints of thedrive shafts may be more easily manufactured.

A particular constructive embodiment of the invention wherein similarreference characters are applied to correspending parts.

The thrust arms e and f are pivotally mounted at the pointsE and Eon theframe 10st that the axes of the jdi 'nts s andf Fjint'efsect at a pointAwhich lies'outside of the' o ppo site"wheelr. The' ai' m l which isdesigned to take up ,the torque acting about a vertical aitis' issupportedjbya'bracket' iron the'fra me l0,'but'mayr also be mounted inany other suitable manner. Also,'in place of an armwhichextendsparallel'fwith the thrustar'm an arm may "be provided which;extends parallel with the thrust afr'm e The lower, longer arm :2eXte'ndsas seen from" the wheelcarrier b,toward the rear. If the brakesare :fn'ou'nted ionthe wheel, this 'v'vin'result in theadvantage thatthe brakingiri'o'rrie'n'ts" acting upon the wheel exert tensile stressesupon the arms e and f. The' wheelsare resilientlyi'nbiinted by ineansofcoil springs: 12 which,

on the 'onehand, actlupon.the'lower arm e and, on the otherhand, upontheframe e110.

:Theaxlehas:beenillustrated as being adriven axle. The wheels r'may bedrivengfor example, byan engine mounted in'tlie front of the vehiclethrough a drive shaft 13, a transmission '14, and lateral p'ivotalshafts 15 which connect "the transmission '14 with 'the'journal mountedon the" vvl1eel carrier b. v

Although our invention has been illustrated'and" described withreference to the preferred embodiments thereof we wish to' have itunderstood that it is in no way limited to 'the details ofsuchernbodiments or to the specific examples described, but is. capableof numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully disclosed 'our invention, what we clairn'is;

1.;Aiwhe'el"'suspension for vehicles comprising a vehicle body,a'wheelon one side of said vehicle, 'a wheel carrier, an"upper tlirustarm,'la"lower thrust arm, articulated means for mountin one end'ofthe'upper thrust "arm st; the when carrier; stitch-steamed rememissnneedsf t elewe rthru m on t e W e F r e articulated means for mounting theother end of said upper thrust arm on the vehicle body, articulatedmeans for mounting the other end of said lower thrust arm on the vehiclebody, said two last-mentioned means determining axes of oscillation 'ofsaid thrust arms relative to saidvehicle body which converge toward theside of the vehicle eppo'site'w the said wheel, and the -point ofintersection" of said axes 'of oscillation lying beyond thewheelof'the'opposite;side of the vehicle with respect to thelongitudinal vertical central plane'of the vehicle,

2. A wheel suspension as defined in claimljwherein said axes ofoscillation extend -ina directionso as to intersect at a point lowerthan the central axis of said wheel.

3. A wheefsu'sperision" as defin'ed in claim l,"wherein said thrust armsextendin a longitudinal direction of said vehicle from said wheelcarrier toward opposite directions. I

4. A wheel suspension asdefined in claim 1 ,.wherein said 't'wo'first-rnentioned' articulated means comprise universal joints, andmeansfor supporting said wheel carrier on saidvehicle body so as to'preventturning of the wheel ca'rr'ier' aboiit a verticalla'xis extendingthrough said two firsflmentioned"articulatedineans. I

5. Awh'eel suspension as'detineddn claim 4, wherein said last-mentionedsupporting means comprises an arm on s'ai d 'wheelcarrierfand'ext'e'nding from said vertical u axis, a thrust arm extendingsubstantially perpendicularly to' said arm, means for pivotally mountingsaid last thrusti'ar'rnbn said wheel carrier, and means for pivotallymounting said last thrust arm on said vehicle body.

'R e'fei-nees'l Cited'inthe file'of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSSuczek Aug. 21, 1934 Sey'e'fle Sept; 28, 1943

